Cristoforo Moretti (documented in Lombardy and Piedmont 1451 – 1475) was a Lombard painter of the

quattrocento The cultural and artistic events of Italy during the period 1400 to 1499 are collectively referred to as the Quattrocento (, , ) from the Italian word for the number 400, in turn from , which is Italian for the year 1400. The Quattrocento encom ...

who worked in a late

International Gothic International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which began in Burgundy, France, and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread very widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period, which was introduced by th ...

style very similar to that of

Michelino da Besozzo Michelino Molinari da Besozzo (c. 1370 – c. 1455) was a notable fifteenth century Italian painter and illuminator, who was widely praised for his work. He worked mostly in Milan and Lombardy, and was employed by the Visconti family, rule ...

’s last period. Few of the unsigned works later attributed to him are attributed with perfect certainty.

Biography

Born in Soncino in the Province of Cremona, he is first recorded in 1451, working for the

Borromeo Borromeo is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * House of Borromeo, an aristocratic family in Milan Members of the House of Borromeo * Andrea Borromeo (c. 1615 – 1683), Theatine priest * Charles Borromeo (1538 – 1584), cardina ...

s in Milan. Between then and 1475 he is found variously in Milan, in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, in Casale, where he decorated the chapel of the Paleologi castle, and in

Vercelli Vercelli (; pms, Vërsèj ), is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, ...

. (It seems that he was expelled from Milan in 1462, accused of having defamed the wife of

Bianca Maria Visconti Bianca Maria Visconti (31 March 1425 – 28 October 1468) was Duchess of Milan from 1450 to 1468 by marriage to Francesco I Sforza. She was regent of Marche during the absence of her spouse in 1448. She served as Regent of the Duchy of Milan duri ...

’s doctor.) He is documented as part of team of artists, including

Vincenzo Foppa Vincenzo Foppa ( – ) was an Italian painter from the Renaissance period. While few of his works survive, he was an esteemed and influential painter during his time and is considered the preeminent leader of the Early Lombard School. He spent hi ...

and Giovanni Battista Montorfano forming an estimate for the paintings of Stefano dei Fedeli in a chapel of the Castle of Milan.Francesco Malaguzzi Valeri, page 84. His best-known work, and the only one surviving to bear his signature, is probably the

polyptych A polyptych ( ; Greek: ''poly-'' "many" and ''ptychē'' "fold") is a painting (usually panel painting) which is divided into sections, or panels. Specifically, a "diptych" is a two-part work of art; a "triptych" is a three-part work; a tetrapty ...

painted for the chapel of Sant’Aquilino next to the Milanese church of S. Lorenzo Maggiore. The work was subsequently broken up and dispersed, but most of its constituent parts were identified by

Roberto Longhi Roberto Longhi (28 December 1890 – 3 June 1970) was an Italian academic, art historian, and curator. The main subjects of his studies were the painters Caravaggio and Piero della Francesca. Early life and career Longhi was born in December 18 ...

in 1928. Three panels, depicting the Virgin and Child enthroned flanked by Saints

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

and

Genesius of Rome Genesius of Rome is a Legendary material in Christian hagiography, legendary Christian saint, once a comedian and actor who had performed in plays that mocked Christianity. According to legend, while performing in a play that made fun of baptism, ...

(the latter playing a

rebec The rebec (sometimes rebecha, rebeckha, and other spellings, pronounced or ) is a bowed stringed instrument of the Medieval era and the early Renaissance. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and one to five strings. Origi ...

), are today in the

Museo Poldi Pezzoli The Museo Poldi Pezzoli is an art museum in Milan, Italy. It is located near the Teatro alla Scala, on Via Manzoni 12. The museum was originated in the 19th century as a private collection of Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli (1822–1879) and his m ...

in Milan. The whereabouts of the panel portraying Saint Peter the Martyr are unknown; however a fragment of that with

Saint Lucy Lucia of Syracuse (283–304), also called Saint Lucia ( la, Sancta Lucia) better known as Saint Lucy, was a Roman Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ...

is in the Longhi Foundation in Florence and part of the

predella In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but oft ...

, again showing Genesius, is conserved in Bologna.

Notes

External links

.
Passage on Cristoro Moretti
from Volume 4 of Luigi Lanzi’s, ''Storia pittorica della Italia dal risorgimento delle belle arti fin presso al fine del XVIII secolo''. * Francesco Malaguzzi Valeri, ''Pittori lombardi del quattrocento'' (Milan: L. F. Cogliati, 1902)
Chapter II: Cristoforo Morreti e l’influsso di Pisanello nella scuola lombarda
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moretti, Cristoforo 15th-century births 15th-century Italian painters Quattrocento painters Italian male painters People from Soncino Painters from Lombardy Artists from the Province of Cremona